Taking Flight
by SchwarzKirsche
Summary: It's drawing close to the end of Craig Tucker's junior year in high school. But Craig is facing many new changes coming his way. CraigxTweek. more pairings to come. BTW, I suck at summaries.
1. Wendy and Bebe Suck

It was a sunny day. Which was a rarity in South Park. It _**was**_drawing close to summer though. Craig Tucker was a junior at South Park High School. He was realizing he only had one year left in school. He liked the idea, but he would have to part ways with all his friends that he had grown up with, to go off to college. Whatever, this wasn't like Craig to think too much about this kind of stuff.

Sitting in 4th period, thank god it was almost the end of the day. 3:30 and I was free.

"Craig are you listening? What's the answer to the question?"

Pfft like I knew. I wasn't paying any attention. I had hid my iPod in my hoodie pocket and was secretly listening to my music. Underoath was blaring in my ears; I'm even surprised that everyone didn't hear it. I look over to Token who is sitting to my left. I give him a look that says, 'Are you going to give me the answer or what?' Token sighed and rolled his eyes. Then, he finally mouthed x=50. I'll have to remember to thank him later.

"Uhmm x=50?"

"Next time Craig, pay attention instead of listening to your music, and maybe you wouldn't have to ask Token for the answer."

Shit. How did he know? I'm pretty sure I had hidden everything perfectly like I always do. I still don't know how I manage to keep straight B's in all my classes. My mom always says I could get A's if I payed attention. School's just not my thing. And plus, I have a reputation to hold up. Slacker, who keeps up just enough to get by and graduate.

Just then the bell rang. Thank god. Only an hour left of school. Then I could go home, and listen to music in my room for the rest of the night.

"Craig could you wait a minute?"

I turn around to see Wendy Testaburger and Bebe Stevens waving a piece of paper in my face.

"Would you stop shoving it in my face so I could actually look at it?" I snatched the paper out of their hands, and looked it over. "What the hell is this?"

"Duh Craig, it's a party invite."

"Yeah! Wendy's having a huge party next Friday for the last day of school! Practically the entire junior class will be there!"

It's not like there were a lot of people in our class. Our town was relatively small, so there weren't many of us.

"Give me one good reason why I should go."

Bebe pouted. "All of your friends are going to be there! And plus, no parents, tons of alcohol, and it's the last day of school! Why not go?"

Ughh. I really don't want to go. I was looking forward to going home on the last day and barricading myself in my room all summer. Human contact is for losers.

"Maybe, I dunno yet. I'll let you know though."

With that, I turned on my heels and began to walk away. Thanks to those dumb girls, I'm now going to be late for study hall. I've lost count on how many times I have already been late, but I was actually planning on showing up before the bell today. Oh well. I walk to my locker, to put my books away. I'm in no real hurry now that I'm already really late. I put my combination in, throw my books in absent-mindedly, slam the door, and walk to my study hall.

"Mr. Tucker, where have you been? You're 7 minutes late."

"I got in trouble with my teacher for listening to my iPod last period during class; he wanted to talk to me about it." That excuse should suffice.

"Well, do you have a pass?"

Fuck. I forgot about that little detail.

"Nah, he didn't bother to give me one."

"Fine. Take a seat Mr. Tucker. But, one more late and I'm giving you a week of detention."

"Whatever." I flicked him off when he looked back down to grade the papers that were strewn across his desk.

"You really should-GAH-try to be on t-time."

I looked over to see my friend Tweek staring at me with his huge green orbs for eyes. He was fiddling with his thermos filled with coffee. I wonder what kind of coffee it was today. Every day he had a different flavor.

"Yeah well, I don't care. It's all Wendy and Bebe's fault anyway."

"What-GAH-did they want?"

"They're having this stupid end of the year party. They wanted to know if I was gonna go."

"P-party?"

"Yeah, are you gonna go Tweek?"

Tweek turned away from me to sip nervously on his coffee.

"Didn't you get invited?"

"GAH N-no. Wendy and Bebe handed out invitations today at lunch to everyone else. I d-don't mind though. I have t-to work that night-GAH-anyway. Plus I don't think they l-like me too much."

It pissed me off when everyone left Tweek out of everything. Just because he drank WAY too much coffee and would spazz out sometimes. He was still a cool kid. Definitely one of my best friends. I could tell him anything and I knew he would listen. Unlike Clyde and Token. I'm glad I had Tweek as a friend. And man, were my thoughts sounding more and more gay.

"Well then, I guess I'm going to have to go to the party and take you along with me."

"JESUS CHRIST you d-don't have to do that C-Craig. They obviously don't-GAH want me t-there."

"I want you there. And they can all suck it."

Gay. Gay. Gay.

It's not that I didn't like girls. They're just so annoying. All they do is nag and bitch. Guys just don't. I've kind of always knew I felt like this. I just could never bring myself to say anything to anyone. My dad would beat the living shit out of me, and then disown me. And my mom would just let him do it. She loved me and cared for me, but she couldn't do anything to stop him even if she tried. Like I said earlier, I have a reputation to hold up. If the town, let alone the school found out, they'd rip me to shreds.

"R-really C-Craig?"

"Yeah. It's a party; everyone is going to be there, so I doubt anyone would even notice you. You'd blend right in."

"B-but I have to work that night-GAH."

"Take off. One night couldn't kill you."

"What if it does? JESUS CHRIST C-Craig, I don't want to die!"

This is what people hate about Tweek. He overdramatizes everything. I just learned to live with it. After being friends with him for so long, it just became a regular thing. But I always made sure I'd reassure him, and tell him that everything would be fine.

"Tweek, you're not going to die. It's just an expression. Chill dude."

"O-okay." He untwisted the lid on his thermos and took a huge gulp of his coffee. I breathed in the scent. White Chocolate Mocha. That was my favorite item from the list at Tweek's coffee shop. I'd go there a lot to see him since no one else did. And plus, they had the best coffee in South Park.

I looked up at the clock to see we had like 30 seconds left of Study Hall.

"I'll let Wendy and Bebe know that I'll go to the party. And I'll let them know they suck for not inviting you. I'll drive you to the party if you want."

"T-Thanks C-Craig."

The bell signaled the end of the day. I waved bye to Tweek, and noticed he blushed slightly and tried to mask it by chugging the remainder of his coffee. I smirked to myself and walked to my locker to get my homework that I wouldn't even do.

"Dude, you going to the party next week?"

I looked over my shoulder to see Clyde and Token staring at me.

"Yeah. I'll be there."

"Awesome! Man, this party is going to be fucking awesome! Booze, girls, no parental supervision! And don't forget about the booze! I'm so pumped!"

"Is alcohol all you can think about?"

I didn't drink alcohol. I knew you could go through life without alcohol, and still have a great time. Clyde and most of the junior class on the other hand, got wasted every chance they could. And each time they shoved a beer at me, I'd give them my signature flip of my middle finger, and go get a soda.

"Mostly. But man, this party is going to have so many wasted chicks. I'm looking to get some. Hopefully Bebe will be wasted enough to sleep with me."

"Clyde, Bebe wouldn't sleep with you even if she did 5 shots of vodka. And a normal person is hammered at 4."

"Well, there's bound to be someone at the party willing to sleep with me!"

This is where I felt like an outsider to the conversation. I never talked about girls. You'd think my best friends would pick up on that. Whatever, I'm glad they can't. Hooray for clueless friends.

"Craig, Craig, CRAIG!"

Lost in my thoughts again. Whoops.

"Huh?"

"You were spacing out Dude. You have a habit of doing that a lot lately."

Token's right. A lot has happened lately. My thoughts have been racing, and it's all thanks to Tweek. I wonder if he's noticed I've caught on to him staring at me, and blushing at almost anything I say. Probably not. Did I like Tweek? NO, that can't be right. I can't be thinking about this. So, I decided to push that into the back of my mind. I knew it would resurface again, but I can't think about this anymore.

"Sorry, hush, there's been a lot going on at home."

"Is your dad being a douche again?"

"He's always a douche, Clyde."

It wasn't a total lie. My dad absolutely hates my guts. I didn't care though. I wasn't fond of him either. And all this week he's been coming home from the bars that he goes to after work, reeking of alcohol. Just to go on a rampage about anything I do.

"Well, hurry up and get your shit so we can leave."

I grabbed my books from my locker, stuffed them in my bag and slammed my locker shut. Token and Clyde had already started walking down the hallway to the front of the school. So, I sped up a little to catch up.

"What are you going to do this summer Token?"

Probably something amazing. His family had the cash. Token could do anything he wanted.

"I'm going to Hawaii. My dad signed me up for surf lessons on a private beach."

Thanks Token, make the poor people feel like shit. Thank God Kenny wasn't with us.

"Dude, can I go with you?"

"Believe me, if you could I would let you go. But, what are you going to do anyway?"

"We're going to Vermont to visit my Aunt or whatever. Guess I'm going to go skiing and find some hot chicks to hook up with."

"Craig what are you going to do?"

Man, I didn't know it took this long just to get to the school parking lot.

"Shut myself up in my room until school starts again."

"Boring! Can't you think of something that involves socialization?"

"That is pretty weak dude."

"Whatever, I don't care."

I flipped them my favorite finger and continued on.

We finally reached my piece of shit of a car, which was parked next to Token's brand new Mustang. I need to tell him to stop parking next to me. It makes my car look even worse. Maybe this summer I can get it a nice paint job.

"We'll see you later dude!"

"Yeah, see ya."

I threw my bag into the passenger seat, shut my door, and adjusted my mirrors. I looked over to see Token starting up his car, Clyde in the passenger seat, checking himself out in the overhead mirror. What a narcissist. I was startled when I saw Token leaning out his window and tapping on my window signaling for me to roll it down.

"Dude, wanna head to Jamba Juice with us? They're having a special on their smoothies."

We just got a Jamba Juice here. They were really expensive, but they had the best god damn smoothies ever. I was broke all the time, because I would blow my money there and at Tweek's coffee shop. I really need a job.

"Sure, why not? Let me just text my mom to tell her I won't be home for a while."

She always liked to know where I was. She let me do what a wanted, but just to respect her enough to tell her where I'll be. She's cool. At least I have one parent that cares.

"Wittle Cwaig texting his Mommy?"

"Shut the fuck up dude. My mom and I have an agreement."

I flipped him off. I swear if I didn't have that finger, I'd die.

"Well let's go then."

I rolled my window back up and started the car. I looked up at the sky. Damn, it was a really nice day. I noticed the temperature in the dashboard of my car to see that it was 70 degrees. Shit, this is an all time high for South Park. With that, I shrugged off my jacket to reveal a blue v-neck. I heard a honk that almost made me shit my pants. I really need to stop spacing out.

"Dude, come on!"

I backed out of the parking space and followed after Token. Then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Tweek, who spazzed out at the sight of me, and dropped all of his books. I smirked to myself for the second time today. Man, did Tweek have a way of doing this to me. I honked to Token to go on without me. He looked back at me to see what my problem was, looked over to Tweek, and shook his head. He drove out of the parking lot, down the street, and out of sight. Could he possibly know? No, he couldn't. I hid it way better than I hid my iPod in school.

I noticed I was in the middle of the parking lot, so I pulled over so other kids could get out of the lot. I got out of my car and walked over to Tweek. I started helping him with the fallen papers.

"C-Craig! You don't-GAH-have to h-help."

"It's okay. Are you going home, or heading to work? I'll give you a lift if you'd like."

"N-no I don't want to be a bother. I was j-just trying to d-drink some-GAH-coffee, when I d-dropped my papers."

"Don't worry about it. Where to?"

"Uh, j-just home. Thanks C-Craig."

I finished helping him clean up his papers. We walked over in silence to my car, and got in. I looked over at him, he was fiddling with the hem of his shirt, a blush creeping up his neck, about the same color of Token's car. Things were getting awkward, so I knew I needed to say something.

"You enjoying this nice weather?"

"Y-yeah. It's rare we get a nice d-day like-GAH-this."

"It really is."

Small talk just wasn't my thing. It was awkward enough as it was, but Tweek was just making it even worse.

"T-turn here."

I turned onto the road Tweek lived on. I've only been down this road once before. We picked Tweek up one day on our way to get some ice-cream last summer. It was the summer I got my license. So we all went to celebrate. Ice-cream seemed to be the only way to do it. After drowning in the silence that was the inside of my car, I noticed I had pulled into Tweek's driveway. It's funny how you can be swept up by your thoughts and still have the ability to drive.

"T-thanks for the ride C-Craig. I really need to-GAH-repay you f-for all these rides. Maybe a free c-coffee at the shop s-sometime?"

"Sure Tweek, that sounds perfect."

"JESUS CHRIST."

I saw the blush on Tweek's face grow an even deeper shade of red. If that was even possible.

"So I'll see ya later?"

"Y-yeah, t-thanks again for the-GAH-ride."

"Anytime Tweek."

He nodded and got out of the car, and shuffled uneasily up the driveway and to his front door. He waved shyly and walked inside, and practically slammed the door. I smirked again. Fuck, Tweek was really getting to me. I backed out of the driveway and began driving back the way I came. This wasn't like me; I smiled slightly the entire way home, and completely forgot about Token and Clyde. I just wasn't in the mood for Jamba Juice anymore.


	2. Good Times With Friends

I woke up the next morning on my bed. I almost forgot that I came right home from dropping Tweek off. I had slept in my clothes from the previous day, headphones in my ears currently playing A Day To Remember. My stomach let out the loudest growl ever. I haven't been this hungry in a while. But, I haven't had anything to eat since lunch yesterday.

I looked over at my clock. It read 11:24 A.M. I'm a huge sleeper. I'm even surprised my dad didn't barge in 2 hours ago, to wake me up and yell at me for being a lazy piece of shit. I got up and changed my clothes, and walked downstairs into the kitchen to get some food. I happened to glance over into the living room and saw my dad, passed out, with about 12 beer cans around him.

"He was out drinking all night."

I turned around to see my little sister Ruby standing in the kitchen door frame. She had red hair pulled into small pig-tails, and brown eyes.

"I can see that."

I took some Cheerios out of the cabinet and poured some into a bowl. I heard the refrigerator door open and close.

"Here."

"Thanks Ruby."

We started treating each other with respect a few years ago. That's when my dad really started drinking, and caring a lot less. She was 13 now, and I was 17, we had to act our age. But that wouldn't stop us from giving each other the trademark finger of the family.

I stuffed my face with my cereal, Ruby sat down across from me. I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and flipped it open. I had a text message from Token.

'_Since you blew us off yesterday, wanna hang? We're getting a group together to go get some pizza.' _

I did owe them at least this. I gave a quick reply saying I'd be there, and then looked over at Ruby.

"I'm going out for a while with the guys. Need anything while I'm gone?"

"Nah, don't worry. I'm just going to go over to a friend's house for the day. I really don't want to be around dad when he wakes up."

I really have no idea why my mom is still with this useless slob.

"You be careful. Take your phone with you. Text me if you need me."

"Who are you and what have you done with Craig?"

She smirked devilishly at me and flipped me off. I gave her a flip of the finger as well and walked out of the house. Sometimes, Ruby wasn't such a bad little sister.

I hopped into my car, and put the keys in the ignition. My phone vibrated again. It wasn't a text message this time, but a phone call from Clyde.

"_Dude, where the fuck are you_?"

"Hold your horses; I just got into my car."

"_Well hurry up. We're already here!"_

"I'll be there in a minute! Jeez. Who's going to be there anyway?"

"_Obviously Me, Token, and You. Stan and Kyle are here along with Kenny and Butters, uh Kevin's here. We're all just waiting for you dude."_

"Oh, hey do you mind if I bring someone else along?"

"_Who else is there? And you're not inviting fatass."_

"Why the hell would I ever bring Cartman to anything?"

"_Who knows dude. But seriously, who are you inviting?"_

"Tweek. He is part of our group after all."

"_Oh yeah, sure bring him along. The more the merrier I suppose."_

With that Clyde hung up the phone. Nice, Clyde. Cut me off in the middle of a conversation. I flipped my phone shut and shoved it in my pocket, and took off down the street. I didn't like the thought of talking on a phone while driving. Sorry, I don't enjoy the thought of getting into a car accident while blabbing away on a cell phone. Before I knew it I was in front of Tweek's house. It only was about 6 minutes away from mine. I got out of the car and walked up to his door and rang the doorbell.

I heard footsteps and then the door opened slowly.

"Hello? Who are you?"

"Oh hi Mrs. Tweak. I'm Craig. Craig Tucker. Is Tweek here?"

"You're Craig? Oh, I'm happy I've finally gotten to meet you! Tweek is upstairs. Go right ahead!"

"Thank you ma'am."

When I wanted to, I could be very polite. So I walked quietly upstairs and saw that all the bedroom doors were open except one. So I was guessing that it was Tweek's. So I knocked on the door.

"JESUS CHRIST! W-who is it?"

"Tweek, it's me, Craig. Open the door."

"GAH, o-okay."

I heard the footsteps of Tweek walking across the room, then the unlocking of several locks. Damn, what kind of person needs that many locks on a door? Oh yeah, Tweek. I grinned. Tweek finally opened the door, revealing his beautiful green eyes. Wait, beautiful? Fuck, they were.

"H-hi C-Craig. What are you-GAH-doing here?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go get some pizza with me and the guys."

"R-really? You want m-me to go?"

"I wouldn't be here asking you if I didn't."

He was obviously pondering things over, when a blush crept upon his cheeks. Sometimes, I wanted to know what went on in this boy's head.

"O-okay."

"Awesome, well come on then. The guys are already there waiting."

"R-right. GAH."

Tweek walked ahead of me and down the stairs. He turned to his parents who were in the kitchen sipping on coffee.

"I'm g-going out for pizza with C-Craig. GAH-is t-that o-okay?"

"Sure sweetheart, just make sure you're home before it gets dark! Be careful."

"I w-will."

"Nice meeting you Mrs. Tweak. Mr. Tweak."

With that we turned and walked out the door and to my car. Again the car ride was uncomfortable. I just couldn't find the right words to say. And I could tell he couldn't either.

About 10 minutes later we pulled into the parking lot for the Pizzeria. I saw Token's car, and parked next to it was Stan's car. It was better than mine, but you could still tell he got it really cheap. I supposed that Kyle, Kenny, and Butters had gotten a ride from him.

We got out of the car silently, and walked to the entrance. I looked over at Tweek. I didn't even notice he had his thermos with him until now.

"You okay Tweek?"

"GAH-y-yeah. I just don't think I'll f-fit in here."

"What are you talking about Tweek? Of course you'll fit in. You _**are**_ part of the group."

"I d-dunno."

I put my hand on his shoulder. It was meant to comfort him, but it made him jump anyway.

"You'll be fine. I promise."

I smiled lightly to reassure him.

"K-kay."

He looked down at his thermos, and unscrewed the lid and took a huge swig. Hopefully that coffee would help him feel better. It was just then that I remember I still had my hand on his shoulder. I pulled it off quickly and pushed the door open.

"Finally! Jesus Christ dude, we thought you'd never get here!"

I saw the voice came from Clyde who was sitting at a booth in the corner. He was sitting next to Kevin, Token was across from him. And at the next table over, were Stan and Kyle sitting next to each other and Butters and Kenny across from them. I noticed they were all staring at us.

I moved over to the table with Token, and motioned for Tweek to sit down next to him. He did and I pulled a chair from a different table up to ours.

"Hey, we ordered our pizza already. Hope you like pineapple and onion!"

"That's fine. Are you cool with it Tweek? Or did you want to order your own slice?"

Everyone turned to Tweek. This clearly made him uncomfortable yet again. He chugged some more of his coffee and screwed the lid back on.

"N-no it's-GAH-fine with m-me."

"Cool, so how ya been Tweek?"

"JESUS CHRIST, g-good. And y-you T-Token?"

"Good."

Token was always good with this kind of stuff. He was really polite. It's not that Clyde wasn't. It was just that Clyde is stupid and absolutely clueless. So he didn't really care.

"So you guys wanna catch a movie after this? There's this new scary movie out. It looks way cool. Blood and guts, and gore. I really wanna see it."

"Nah, I don't think so. What else is playing?"

I did want to see the movie Clyde was talking about. It's just I knew that Tweek wouldn't want to see it. He would jump right out of his fucking skin. But would that be a good thing for me? No, he'd be flipping out for the rest of the day. And he probably wouldn't get any sleep. Not like he got much of that anyway.

"Hmm, we could see Kick-Ass. That looks pretty rad."

"Whaddya say Tweek?"

"See w-whatever you want. GAH. Too much pressure!"

"Chill Tweek. Yeah, we'll see Kick-Ass. It's settled, no more debate needed."

That was a way to settle things easily. Tweek calmed down and took another drink of his coffee like he needed it to survive. It was like it was his air. I found it cute how he would cling to that thermos for dear life. I'm pretty sure he'd rip someone's face off if they tried to take it from him. Tweek isn't strong or mean, but I'd hate to see the person that came between him and his coffee.

"So did you guys hear? Token is totally hooking up with Wendy!"

"Clyde!"

"What it's so true! She's been hanging all over you for the past week!"

I'm surprised Stan couldn't here Clyde's big mouth at the next table over. We all knew that Wendy and him had been over for a while now, but she was Stan's first girlfriend. And hearing that she was with Token now, couldn't be the greatest thing in the world to hear. But I really don't think Stan cared anymore. Pretty much everyone in South Park knew from day one of high school, that Stan saw his Super Best Friend in a new light. This is kind of what happened for me with Tweek. Except the entire town didn't know it. I'm waiting for the two of them to announce their love for each other and move on. But, I don't think they were ready for that just yet.

"So, it doesn't really matter who I date! Who cares if just happens to be Wendy?"

" Well, are you getting any?"

"Clyde! We've only been dating for a week! No, I'm not getting any!"

"Well you so need to! You've got such a big stick up your butt! Wendy needs to pull that shit out!"

Everyone started laughing, even Token. I laughed quietly to myself. It was cool to have a guy's day like this. Where you get everyone together and just chill. We didn't even notice our pizza came out and had already cooled off.

We each took a slice of pizza. Except Tweek.

"You going to eat?"

"GAH n-no, I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat something. You'll feel better if you do. I promise."

Tweek nervously fooled with his thermos and finally set it down on the table.

"O-okay."

He went to get a piece of pizza, his hands shaking uncontrollably. I resisted the urge to smile; it seemed I had been doing that a lot lately. I really need to stop.

We all finished off our pan of pizza in almost complete silence. Except for Clyde. Lord only knows what he was trying to say through all that food. I turned around to the table behind us to see that Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Butters had all finished their pizza too. Stan looked at me.

"You guys done over there?"

I looked to everyone at the table to see a unanimous nod.

"Yeah, let's go."

We left a tip on the table. Only about four bucks. It was just a pizza parlor after all. You didn't really need to tip much.

"So, we're going to the movies now?"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

I got into my car, with Tweek in the passenger seat. I saw Token get in his car with Clyde and Kevin. Stan was driving Kyle, Kenny, and Butters just like I thought. I pulled out of the parking spot and followed Token out onto the road.

When we got to the movie theater, we all went to the ticket booth.

"Two tickets please."

I looked to Tweek who twitched, looking up at me.

"W-why two?"

"I'm buying your ticket."

"Why? I-GAH-have m-money."

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind."

It was my dad's money after all. I really didn't care. As long as that son-of-a-bitch didn't have it.

After everyone got all their tickets and popcorn, we all filed into the theater. There wasn't anyone in the there but us. Awesome. I loved when you could have a theater alone with your friends and not have to worry about getting kicked out.

The middle of the theater is where we deemed to be perfect for viewing the movie. Tweek sat to my left, and Token at my right. Next to him was Clyde, then Kevin. Next to Tweek, was Kenny, who liked Tweek (which was good), then Butters, Kyle and Stan at the very end.

The movie started, and we were silent.

Every time a scene would include any high packed action, Tweek would jump almost clear out of his skin. I really wished I could put my arm around his thin shoulders, to let him know everything was okay. But I couldn't exactly do that.

When the movie finished, we threw all of our trash away and walked out into the parking lot. I reached my car and unlocked it. I waved bye to everyone and got in.

I looked at Tweek, who was still fooling with his thermos.

"Want me to drop you off at your house?"

"Y-yeah."

I put the car into gear and drove off the lot. Sooner than I knew it we were at Tweek's house. However, the silence in the car was unbearable.

"Did you have a good time?"

"GAH-yeah. I haven't had th-that much fun in a w-while. Thank you."

I noticed that Tweek cracked a small smile.

"Not at all."

I also noticed that Tweek wasn't making any move to get out of the car and go into his house. Was he waiting for something?

"Would you want to do it again? We could just do the two of us, so there aren't as many people to pressure you."

"R-really? GAH-maybe."

That blush that I found myself to be quite fond of was now on Tweek's cheeks once again.

"I'll see you Monday, okay Tweek? Want me to pick you up and take you to school?"

"GAH-not if it's going to c-cause you trouble."

"Listen Tweek, nothing that involves you, could ever cause me trouble. Remember that. I'll see you at 8:00 Monday morning."

"R-right. See you."

"Bye Tweek."

I watched him walk into his house and shut the door. This time, he didn't slam it. I don't understand why it was Tweek and only Tweek that could make me feel this way. But I was sure as hell bound to find out.

When I got home, I completely forgot to text my mom to tell her I was going to be late. Fuck. If dad found out, I was as good as dead. I walked in silently and peered into the family room. My dad was still passed out on the sofa. For a moment I thought he could be dead, but then I heard him snore obnoxiously.

"Craig honey, is that you?"

The voice was coming from the kitchen.

"Yeah, hey mom."

My mom was seated at the kitchen table with Ruby across from her. There were papers all over the table. Ruby was obviously getting help with her homework from mom.

"You're late. Why didn't you call me?"

"Sorry mom, we went to the movies, and I lost track of time."

"That's fine hun, but make sure you let me know next time."

Ruby snapped her head to look up at me.

"If that was me, I'd be grounded for a month!"

"That's because you're too young to have this kind of trust."

Ruby pouted and flipped me off. I gave her the finger too.

"Whatever, I'm going to bed. Night mom, night Craig."

"Night Rub."

I took a seat at the table after Ruby cleared up all her books and papers. I looked up at my mom. She looked like she had been upset earlier.

"You okay mom?"

"Huh? Oh yes. I'm fine. It's just your father."

"Has he been there all day?"

She looked down at her coffee that she had.

"Yes."

"Mom, we need to do something about him. He can't keep doing this to us."

"Craig, what can we do?"

"Uh, kick him out."

"You know we can't do that."

"And why not?"

I hated being snotty like this to my mom. But, I just could help it when it came to my dad. He made me so angry, mixed with a million other hateful emotions that were absolutely indescribable.

"Because he's your father."

"That's what you always say. And I really don't consider him to be so."

"Craig, please."

"Mom, you know what he's like, I can't do this anymore."

"I know it's hard, but you're a strong young man. And I'm proud of you no matter what. Don't worry about your father. You have me, and that's all you need."

"Thanks mom. I love you."

I got up from my chair and kissed my mom on the cheek. She was the greatest.

"I love you too sweetie."

"You really should get to bed. You look exhausted."

"You're right. Come on."

She got up from her chair, and put her coffee mug in the sink. She turned from the counter and put her arm around my shoulders, and we walked upstairs.

"Goodnight Craig. Get a good night sleep."

"I will. You too. Hey, how about I make breakfast tomorrow morning? Omelets sound good?"

"That would be lovely sweetie."

We smiled at each other and went into our respective rooms.

I stripped down to my boxers, and threw my clothes in the hamper I had in my bathroom. I went to my dresser and pulled out a plain blue t-shirt. I pulled it over my head, and got into bed. Damn, did it feel good to relax. As I closed my eyes to drift away for the night, the last thing I thought of was Tweek clutching to his thermos for dear life. I smiled to myself, and let my dreams sweep me away.


End file.
